It should be noted that the first trade Alex Anthopoulos didn’t make this season was one that would have sent Jose Bautista to Philadelphia or Texas or somewhere else.
That was back before the season started. The club was dying – dying – for starting pitching and one option for getting some was moving the Toronto slugger.
There wasn’t a lot of wide-spread objection to this kind of thinking. Of course, it never happened and Bautista is on course for one of the best all-around seasons of his career; shining for a team in a pennant race.
And there was some talk too about moving Casey Janssen, who was the highest-paid returning member of what seemed liked an overstuffed Blue Jays bullpen at the time.
But nothing ever came of it, thankfully, and Janssen has been lights out since returning to the closing role after early season arm trouble.
So take the sour grapes about Stand Pat Alex with a massive pinch of salt.
Players make terrible general managers, as a rule. Not that they can’t help themselves sometimes. Like fans, they have a vested interest in what’s happening with their team and in a year like this one, where Blue Jays will be in a playoff position on August 1st for the first time in decades, you can’t blame them for looking at the lack of activity by Anthopoulos and feel the need to vent.
And make no mistake, when a professional athlete allows – as Bautista did before the Blue Jays played the Houston Astros – that he’s “a little disappointed” and that “other teams find a way to improve” after the Jays didn’t make a move before the non-waiver trade deadline passed at 4 p.m, what he really means is he’s royally pissed.
Similarly, Janssen — the Blue Jays free-agent-to-be closer — sounded as crushed as any long-time season ticket holder after he learned that reinforcements weren’t coming.
“We’re heard 92, 93 and I think we’re tired of hearing it,” said Janssen. “We want to put our stamp on Toronto and across baseball. For me in my eight years here, I’ve never been this close, never had such an opportunity to make it in the playoffs and I think that’s where the excitement level for this trade deadline was. It’s finally our time. It’s finally beating down the door and we wanted to come on the scene as strong as we can.”
His frustration is completely understandable, but here’s the problem: The only time this season that it didn’t seem like the Blue Jays needed to make a move was when they were smashing live batting practice every night and going 20-9 in May to open up a six-game lead in the AL East.
But all those wished upon moves, with the power of hindsight, look like they would have been a waste of resources.
Does Bautista really think that he’d have a better chance at his first playoff appearance if Anthopoulos had traded Stroman for another “established” starting pitcher?
Stroman’s 6-2 record and 2.12 ERA as a starter tells me not a flipping chance.
Or Aaron Sanchez, who is showing he can mow through big league hitters at age 22? What deal would have made trading the most promising pitching prospect the Blue Jays have spit out of their farm system in years make sense?
Go down the list.
As the Blue Jays were stumbling early and trying to figure out how to settle down their infield after Maicer Izturis (remember him?) tore his knee up, Scott Boras was banging the drum for Stephen Drew.
The same Stephen Drew who was hitting .176 for the last-place Red Sox before they traded him to the New York Yankees Thursday.
Ubaldo Jimenez’s pocket seemed like a worthy place for the Blue Jays to deposit $50-million or so in the off-season. When the Baltimore Orioles got him for four years and just that amount, it seemed like a steal. Not so much now given he’s on the 15-day DL after compiling a 3-8 record with a 4.96 ERA.
Sure, Ervin Santana would be a nice arm to have right now. He’s pitched well for the Atlanta Braves (10-6 with a 3.63 ERA in 131 innings). But the Jays had him booked to arrive for a physical after a group of players agreed to defer some money to make room for him on a one-year, $14-million deal before he reneged to pitch in the National League.
Is Jose Bautista really that upset that the Blue Jays didn’t absorb the $25-million Martin Prado has remaining on his contract so he can take at bats away from Brett Lawrie when he returns?
Did any team make a move better than the one the Jays will make when they take Adam Lind and Edwin Encarnacion off the disabled list?
I understand Bautista’s frustration and Janssen’s. But their job is hit and pitch.
Anthopoulos’ job is to put together a baseball team that can win and so far, he deserves credit. His job is on the line too.
In the winter of 2013, Anthopoulos took Rogers money and some of the best prospects in baseball and pulled the trigger on a series of deals that were the epitome of an organization “going for it.”
All signs pointed to a successful season and a chance to make a run at a World Series. His job done, Anthopoulos sat back and watched in horror as his lineup of highly paid, well-pedigreed veterans collectively wet their silk sheets.
This season, with his career on the line, Anthopoulos took a measured approach, and seemed determined to make deals only if he truly believed there was value to be had.
And if ownership has his hands tied a wee bit, so be it. After a 74-win season, they watched their payroll climb to $140-million and took a wait-and-see approach.
And why change now?
With two-thirds of a their season done, every deal Anthopoulos hasn’t made has worked out nearly perfectly.
Bautista and Janssen are proof.